A question as seemingly benign as “You’re Laura’s mother, right?” becomes the moment when Cielo’s life changes forever. The query, posed by a toothy-smiled young man, is born not out of curiosity but out of a need to make sure he’s found the right woman to extort. Even as he grins, there’s a sinister edge to his nonchalance when addressing Cielo, who slowly starts piecing together what’s afoot. Laura did not return home the night before and, as the cocksure young man soon informs her, she never will unless Cielo can come up with an exorbitant ransom fee.
What follows may well be accurately described as a revenge narco-western set in Northern Mexico. But such a synopsis risks sensationalizing the subject matter of “La Civil” and flattening its aesthetic prowess. Just as a mundane interaction kicks off a harrowing search that will leave Cielo...
What follows may well be accurately described as a revenge narco-western set in Northern Mexico. But such a synopsis risks sensationalizing the subject matter of “La Civil” and flattening its aesthetic prowess. Just as a mundane interaction kicks off a harrowing search that will leave Cielo...
- 8/23/2021
- by Manuel Betancourt
- Variety Film + TV
The San Francisco International Film Festival (Sffilm) has today announced the full lineup of this year’s festival, which includes both online and in-person events taking place at the Fort Mason Flix drive-in theater. The opening night selection will be the world premiere of Chase Palmer’s “Naked Singularity,” which stars John Boyega as a public defender wrapped up in a drug heist. The full lineup includes buzzy festival titles like “Cryptozoo,” “The Dry,” “Strawberry Mansion,” “Son of Monarchs,” “Homeroom,” “Lily Topples the World,” and “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It.”
This year’s complete program includes 42 feature films, 56 short films, and, new to the festival this year, five mid-length films. 13 films will be making their world premiere with an additional 15 making their North American premiere. The lineup includes films from 41 countries around the world. Among the full festival lineup, 57% of the films were helmed...
This year’s complete program includes 42 feature films, 56 short films, and, new to the festival this year, five mid-length films. 13 films will be making their world premiere with an additional 15 making their North American premiere. The lineup includes films from 41 countries around the world. Among the full festival lineup, 57% of the films were helmed...
- 3/24/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Spain’s Luis López Carrasco picked up the Best International Film prize for his documentary “The Year of the Discovery” (“El año del descubrimiento”) on Sunday at Argentina’s Mar del Plata, the only Latin American film fest granted a Category A status by producers assn. Fiapf, placing it in the same league as Cannes, Venice, San Sebastian and Locarno, among others.
Given the restraints imposed by the pandemic, the festival hosted an online edition and offered free access to all Argentine residents.
Carrasco’s sophomore feature follows his debut film “El Futuro,” which premiered at Locarno and collected numerous awards on the festival circuit. “The Year of the Discovery” portrays the flipside of 1992 Spain, which celebrated hosting the Olympics Games in Barcelona and the World Expo in Seville while in Murcia, south-east Spain, enraged workers from the naval, mining and chemical sectors where companies were shut down, battled alongside students against the police,...
Given the restraints imposed by the pandemic, the festival hosted an online edition and offered free access to all Argentine residents.
Carrasco’s sophomore feature follows his debut film “El Futuro,” which premiered at Locarno and collected numerous awards on the festival circuit. “The Year of the Discovery” portrays the flipside of 1992 Spain, which celebrated hosting the Olympics Games in Barcelona and the World Expo in Seville while in Murcia, south-east Spain, enraged workers from the naval, mining and chemical sectors where companies were shut down, battled alongside students against the police,...
- 11/30/2020
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Hulu has dropped an action-packed trailer to “No Man’s Land,” an epic war series, love story and, above all, tale of personal odyssey.
Setting it apart, the eight-part series takes place against the background of the Syrian Kurd Ypj women’s militia push back against Isis, a struggle featuring formidable female fighters.
A Hulu Original, set to bow in the U.S. on Nov. 18, “No Man’s Land” is created by “Fauda” and “First Flag” producer Maria Feldman as well as Eitan Mansuri, behind Omri Givon’s 2018 Canneseries best series winner “When Eagles Fly.”
In a pedigree creative package, the series is written by “False Flag’s” Amit Cohen and “Euphoria’s” Ron Leshem.
That is reflected in a multi-level series which is at once intimate drama and geo-political eye-opener, and spangled by set piece action scenes between the Ypj and Isis, which make up much of the trailer.
In a first,...
Setting it apart, the eight-part series takes place against the background of the Syrian Kurd Ypj women’s militia push back against Isis, a struggle featuring formidable female fighters.
A Hulu Original, set to bow in the U.S. on Nov. 18, “No Man’s Land” is created by “Fauda” and “First Flag” producer Maria Feldman as well as Eitan Mansuri, behind Omri Givon’s 2018 Canneseries best series winner “When Eagles Fly.”
In a pedigree creative package, the series is written by “False Flag’s” Amit Cohen and “Euphoria’s” Ron Leshem.
That is reflected in a multi-level series which is at once intimate drama and geo-political eye-opener, and spangled by set piece action scenes between the Ypj and Isis, which make up much of the trailer.
In a first,...
- 10/16/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
There’s an essay by scholar Carol Squiers from 1985 called “The Corporate Year in Pictures.” In it, she engages in a semiotic analysis of the layouts of various annual reports to shareholders published by a number of corporations during the early 1980s. The article is essentially a study of how companies utilize text and image to construct their desired narratives—of the fiscal year, of their corporate image, and their overall brand identity. It’s a look at a more private component of the public relations machine, since the annual reports are understood to be internal documents, even though publicly-held companies must make their annual reports available to anyone who requests them, by order of the Securities and Exchange Commission.The most notable image in Squiers’ article appears on the cover of the 1982 report for Johnson & Johnson. On an all-white layout, there is a small picture of a bottle...
- 10/7/2020
- MUBI
Given the complicated situation with film festivals this year, there were obviously a lot of films from 2020 that might have potentially fallen through the cracks. They might have premiered at Rotterdam or Berlin, only to vanish without a trace. Or they could have simply remained on their maker’s hard drive, waiting for next year’s round of submissions, when they’d be competing with a new spate of other films. In light of this, the New York Film Festival is providing a public service with its rather swollen Currents lineup. Without inclusion in this year’s NYFF, many of these films would not receive another high profile screening, and this has consequences for future programming slots, distribution, as well as simply getting seen by viewers like you. Going forward, it’s unlikely that the Currents section will be so sprawling. After all, selectivity is NYFF’s brand.Having said that,...
- 10/7/2020
- MUBI
by Jason Adams
The title of Fauna, the latest film from Mexican-Canadian director Nicolás Pereda, turns out to be good enough a punchline that I'd never spoil it, but it's one of those punchlines where the characters themselves get to burst into laughter at it -- it's extra-textual enough for everybody to recognize its ridiculousness all at once, even as it exists within the narrative. There are many such laughs in the film but highlighting that distinction up-front matters. The space between the people on-screen and the people watching? Well, Pereda's having a heap of fun wigglin' all around in that uncanny void...
The title of Fauna, the latest film from Mexican-Canadian director Nicolás Pereda, turns out to be good enough a punchline that I'd never spoil it, but it's one of those punchlines where the characters themselves get to burst into laughter at it -- it's extra-textual enough for everybody to recognize its ridiculousness all at once, even as it exists within the narrative. There are many such laughs in the film but highlighting that distinction up-front matters. The space between the people on-screen and the people watching? Well, Pereda's having a heap of fun wigglin' all around in that uncanny void...
- 10/3/2020
- by JA
- FilmExperience
Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland,” a low-key drama starring Frances McDormand as a woman who loses her house and travels around the Western United States in a van, has won the People’s Choice Award at the 2020 Toronto International film Festival, TIFF organizers announced on Sunday.
The first runner-up for the award was “One Night in Miami,” the first feature to be directed by actress Regina King. The second runner-up was “Beans,” a coming-of-age story from indigenous Canadian director Tracey Deer.
The People’s Choice Award in the documentary section went to Michelle Latimer’s “Inconvenient Indian,” while the Midnight Madness winner was Roseanne Liang’s “Shadow in the Cloud.”
Over the last eight years in a row, and nine of the last 10 years and 12 of the last 13, the TIFF People’s Choice winner has gone on to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. In that stretch, it...
The first runner-up for the award was “One Night in Miami,” the first feature to be directed by actress Regina King. The second runner-up was “Beans,” a coming-of-age story from indigenous Canadian director Tracey Deer.
The People’s Choice Award in the documentary section went to Michelle Latimer’s “Inconvenient Indian,” while the Midnight Madness winner was Roseanne Liang’s “Shadow in the Cloud.”
Over the last eight years in a row, and nine of the last 10 years and 12 of the last 13, the TIFF People’s Choice winner has gone on to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. In that stretch, it...
- 9/20/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Chloé Zhao’s beloved road odyssey “Nomadland” took home the coveted Toronto International Film Festival 2020 People’s Choice Award on Sunday, often a precursor to an eventual Best Picture Academy Award nomination. Last year’s People’s Choice Award went to Taika Waititi’s “Jojo Rabbit,” which sealed the deal at the 2020 Oscars with a Best Adapted Screenplay win, along with a Best Picture nomination. Over the last eight years, every top TIFF winner has gone on to be nominated for Best Picture. “Nomadland” also won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival — making it the first film in history to win both festival prizes. Searchlight will release the movie on December 4.
All this year’s winners were directed by women. The first runner up was “One Night in Miami,” directed by Regina King. The second runner up was “Beans,” directed by Tracey Deer. The TIFF 2020 People’s Choice...
All this year’s winners were directed by women. The first runner up was “One Night in Miami,” directed by Regina King. The second runner up was “Beans,” directed by Tracey Deer. The TIFF 2020 People’s Choice...
- 9/20/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Estranged siblings gathering weary forces to check in on their distant parents rarely makes for a good time in real life, but onscreen in Nicolás Pereda’s “Fauna,” it’s a rife setup for awkward moments and cringe comedy refracted through an oddball lens. Dry as a bone and shot with clinical detachment, the latest entry in the evolving Pereda cinematic universe is both a dysfunctional family dramedy and a droll sendup of celebrity obsession, using the global fever surrounding Netflix’s “Narcos” as an entry point into the life of actors, creators, and those who watch them from afar.
Luisa (Luisa Pardo) and Paco (Francisco Barreiro) are on a road trip. She is an aspiring actor, he a more successful one, and they’re going to visit her parents in a rural village in Mexico. She hasn’t seen them in awhile, and her brother Gabino (Lázaro Gabino Rodríguez) will be joining them.
Luisa (Luisa Pardo) and Paco (Francisco Barreiro) are on a road trip. She is an aspiring actor, he a more successful one, and they’re going to visit her parents in a rural village in Mexico. She hasn’t seen them in awhile, and her brother Gabino (Lázaro Gabino Rodríguez) will be joining them.
- 9/19/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
As the New York Film Festival readies to roll out its 58th edition tomorrow (and running through October 11), IndieWire is pleased to share an exclusive look at the many festival-sponsored Talks which will roll out during this year’s event. HBO serves as the presenting sponsor of Talks, which supplement NYFF’s screenings with a series of free and live panel discussions and in-depth conversations with a wide range of guests.
As announced by festival brass earlier this summer, this year’s NYFF is going to operate differently than it has in previous incarnations. The event will combine a brand-new virtual presence with carefully designed outdoor screenings, including two drive-ins. The Talks are taking a new shape, too, and while they are not available as in-person events, as they have been in years past, the festival is hoping to turn them into “an essential live, online meeting place for audiences,...
As announced by festival brass earlier this summer, this year’s NYFF is going to operate differently than it has in previous incarnations. The event will combine a brand-new virtual presence with carefully designed outdoor screenings, including two drive-ins. The Talks are taking a new shape, too, and while they are not available as in-person events, as they have been in years past, the festival is hoping to turn them into “an essential live, online meeting place for audiences,...
- 9/16/2020
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
In this “is the cinema half-empty or half-full?” world, Canadian producers are focusing on the perks of a leaner, hybrid Toronto fest, rather than empty seats.
“There is so much happening in the world on social and political levels, I am curious how that influences the consciousness of the marketplace,” says Toronto vet Charles Officer, director and co-producer of gang drama “Akilla’s Escape,” starring poet-actor Saul Williams.
“Screening in a smaller pool of titles allows for more visibility,” says Officer. “It’s important the cast of talented Black actors receive exposure at a festival like Toronto, and it’s rare that Black filmmakers in Canada make features — we can’t afford to be passive about opportunities to participate.” XYZ Films is selling the film.
WaZabi Films’ “Beans,” Tracey Deer’s coming-of-ager set during the 1990 standoff between Mohawk communities and government forces in Oka, Quebec, is “relevant to the times we are living in,...
“There is so much happening in the world on social and political levels, I am curious how that influences the consciousness of the marketplace,” says Toronto vet Charles Officer, director and co-producer of gang drama “Akilla’s Escape,” starring poet-actor Saul Williams.
“Screening in a smaller pool of titles allows for more visibility,” says Officer. “It’s important the cast of talented Black actors receive exposure at a festival like Toronto, and it’s rare that Black filmmakers in Canada make features — we can’t afford to be passive about opportunities to participate.” XYZ Films is selling the film.
WaZabi Films’ “Beans,” Tracey Deer’s coming-of-ager set during the 1990 standoff between Mohawk communities and government forces in Oka, Quebec, is “relevant to the times we are living in,...
- 9/9/2020
- by Jennie Punter
- Variety Film + TV
Films include ’Ammonite’, ’Notturno’, ’New Order’ and ’Penguin Bloom’.
New work from Francis Lee, Werner Herzog, François Ozon, Gianfranco Rosi, Regina King and Mira Nair are among the line-up for the 45th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
As previously announced, Spike Lee’s David Byrne’s American Utopia will open this year’s edition, which runs from September 10-19.
The festival will close with Nair’s A Suitable Boy (pictured), a six-part TV drama that debuted on the BBC in the UK last Sunday (July 26). Netflix has online global rights, excluding North America and China.
Scroll down for full line-up...
New work from Francis Lee, Werner Herzog, François Ozon, Gianfranco Rosi, Regina King and Mira Nair are among the line-up for the 45th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
As previously announced, Spike Lee’s David Byrne’s American Utopia will open this year’s edition, which runs from September 10-19.
The festival will close with Nair’s A Suitable Boy (pictured), a six-part TV drama that debuted on the BBC in the UK last Sunday (July 26). Netflix has online global rights, excluding North America and China.
Scroll down for full line-up...
- 7/30/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
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